At Dusk
by Philip Ellwell
Summary: Sent to Twilight Town on a recon to explore a girl spotted at the old mansion, Axel runs into the last person he'd ever expect to: Riku, the Organization imposter. Discovering Riku knows more than he lets on, Axel pursues him, discovering the secret ties of the old mansion, and the long forgotten Unicornis union...
1. Chapter 1

The sun danced along the distant hills, the night coming closer with every second. Or, at least, what ever passed for night in Twilight Town; since the sun never truly went down, the darkness was enhanced by the hills, throwing the town into darkness when it sank to a certain degree in the sky.

So, to put it a little simpler, the hills blocked the light, and made the night time for Twilight Town. That fact was well known to the Organization, and, to be honest, nights in Twilight Town were truly magical. Axel hated to admit this, but he couldn't deny the beauty of the orange and dusky red bricks under the flickering lights dotting the streets. It was striking, and unlike anything else in the world. Well... _worlds_. He chuckled at that.

There was barely anyone out, the quaint citzens of Twilight Town considering sunset time to go home, and be with family. The only people out were a few late night joggers, and the odd cat. All the kids were inside, so most of the usual places were empty at this time of night.

Axel was too lazy to walk up the stairs, so he used a dark corridor to cheat his way up to the top, standing on the peak of a rooftop, looking out over the town. It was expansive, buildings grouped in semi circles and lines around nearly endless plazas, tram lines crisscrossing the whole tangled mess of a town, looping back over itself on the crest of the hills.

It was fairly beautiful, but Axel wasn't here for sight seeing. He was looking for someone...someone important. He had his orders, straight from the lips of the head honcho himself, and to refuse them was to risk death.

Or, even worse: no desert for a month.

Taking a step off the roof, Axel dropped down to the pavement, the wind wipping his cloak up past him, like angel wings, his shirt flying open around him. It must've looked amazing, if anyone had been there to see it: an angel falling from grace.

At the last second, a dark corridor spun open, and he dropped into it, landing unharmed on the pavement outside the woods. He left his shirt hanging open, the night air cooling his flushed skin. They were never allowed to remove their coats in the castle, except those rare bathing times, or at night, when they tossed and turned, and pretended to sleep. A fun quirk about Nobodies was the lack of need to sleep; an hour kept them going a week.

The woods were beyond the end of the station plaze, reached through a gaping crack in the otherwise flawless walls surrounding the place. The local kids dared each other to run through the woods, rumors of a shaking tree scaring most off, and the old mansion looming at the end of the path keeping all but the very bravest out.

Axel, however, felt no fear, striding into the darkness of the woods, the trees moving gently in the night...or not night. Here, away from the covered walls, the sun still dimly peered through, the forest bathed in a dusky orange glow that wasn't quite moonlight, wasn't quite sunlight.

"Really nice... mind trips are so fun when you're roughing it." Axel cracked, to quite literally no one: except for a small rabbit, darting into the bushes at his approach, there was no one there.

Ahead, just past the turn in the path, the house loomed: illuminated in orange, the place seemed like some sort of honest to god haunted mansion, the windows glowing as the sun bounced off them, the gauzey curtains in the top right window fluttering slightly.

The source of another of the "Wonder" going around by word of mouth: the girl in the window. The cause of his mission.

Namine was here... they'd pinned it down, after searches of all the worlds the organization could get to. They'd found traces of them in Wonderland, hidden high in the Lilliputt woods, but they were long gone by the time a recon team had been sent out.

Idily scratching his chest, Axel stepped up to the gates of the house, staring up at it.

From here, it wasn't impressive, merely a large mansion, ravaged by time and years of weather, run down, harmless...

And filled with secrets, present from the damn gates: The Unicornis sigil, plastered right on the lock for anyone who knew, anyone privy to the secrets of the worlds...

Secrets...hidden in plain sight.

A single touch blasted the gates open, the lock melting at Axel's touch. The gates swung open, the hinges screaming like dying souls. He winced, worried someone had heard it, but chuckled at himself, knowing he was too far out of town to catch attention. He was golden.

Well...nearly golden... a fist slammed into his back, and he grunted, arching away from the pain.

"Son of a..." He whirled, chakramas flamming into being in his hands, swiping at the attacker.

The silver haired man leapt back, landing a couple of feet away. He raised a fist, and a dark, wicked weapon spawned in a burst of darkness, looking like a shorter Keyblade. Axel chuckled.

"So you're it...our imposter, perp on the loose. Funny...I thought you'd be bigger."

The silver haired man's noise wrinkled, and he lunged, swiping at Axel's (stupidly) exposed chest, the blade glancing of the Unicornis seal on the gate post, sparks flying.

"Gah!" He turned, and Axel bent back, the blade only just grazing his belt buckle, the silver haired man swiping and dodging, going in for attack, and pulling back before Axel could parry, the whole fight becoming a mess of dodges and swipes, neither man getting in a good hit.

"Ah, guy, stop!" Axel shouted, finally snapping a kick at the mans' wrist, making it fling back, and drop the Keyblade. It vanished in a puff of darkness as it hit the grass, and the man grunted.

"Ugh." With a groan, Axel flicked his hands, the chakrams vanishing in firey wooshes. He took deep breaths, sweat staining his skin, while the silver haired man hadn't broken a sweat, and watched him calmly.

No..not watched. A grey blindfold was wrapped around his eyes, keeping his sight dark. How he fought, or even walked around, was impossible to figure out.

"So..are you done with these games now? I've got orders to take you back to the boss man." Axel huffed, swiping a hand through his hair.

"I'm not here for you." The man said, turning to the golden Unicornis seal, running gloved fingers down it. With a cry, his Keyblade came back to him, and he struck it, cracking the seal with a shower of sparks, making the seal just shattered pieces on the grass. Nothing anyone would notice, pry into to, or look at a second time.

"Why the heck did you do that?" Axel yelled, making a fist. "That seal is ancient...history!" He took a step forward.

"I have my own orders... " The silver haired man said, tossing his head. His hair flipped back, and Axel was weirdly reminded of a bad anime, or JRPG. Stuff Demyx often blackmailed him into playing with him. Not something you say in reality often.

"That seal is one of the last Unicornis seals in all the...in town. Don't you get that?" Axel grunted. "You've ruined our recon."

"Our?" The man glanced over his shoulder, and seemed to be holding back a smile, the corners of his lips lifted only just slightly.

"The Organization. My group. " Axel said simply, not wanting to delve into it more.

"I know of them." The man said simply. "And I know of Ira...the true owner of this house."

Axel's eyes widened. "What...what did you say?"

The man chuckled, and took a step back, vanishing into a dark corridor. Axel glared at the final wisp of smoke, as it vanished into the grass. The ruins of the seal glinted in the last light of the sun, the single piece Axel could see was intact being a bit of eye and flank. Totally ruined... and never repairable. The last sign of the history of this world...and all worlds.

"Saix is going to kill me," Axel groaned, waving a hand. The dark corridor surrounded him, and Axel faded into it.

The woods were dark, only a few shafts of light flitting through the trees. The golden pieces glinted in the grass, soon to be covered up by weeds and crabgrass. For now, the secrets of the mansion were kept, and the girl watching from the window sighed.

For now, he could sleep, and fate would take care of the rest. The Other had been to Twilight Town, she knew; she sensed him. Him... and the Puppet.. the other one that never should've been. The Copy.

She looked down at the paper in her lap, the bright crayon marks unable to truely make the drama of the incident stand out: The red haired man staring Riku down, fist clenched, as the broken seal glittered nearby.

She looked up at the wall, seeing the gilded statue on the shelf. Its eyes seemed to hold more secrets than she could ever figure out, more legends and past horrors than she could ever draw.

For now, all there was was drawings, white curtains, and a sigh, lost to the winds. The Other would come... it was only a matter of time. Fate was unchangable.


	2. Chapter 2

Saix glared at Axel, tapping a foot slowly. "You did what?"

Axel was sprawled on a couch in the Grey Area, and looked up at Saix with a smirk, arms crossed behind his head. "Told ya, Sai; lost the damn guy half way there. He bested me, yup, totally." He nodded, as Saix's frown deepened, his eyebrows meeting in a straight line above his eyes.

"Axel...Lord Xemnas will not be pleased at all... you failed your mission, and let the false Organization member run free to corrupt our name further-" He began.

"Saix...let it go," Axel cut him off, eyes skyward in annoyance at Saix nagging him. It got really old after awhile. "He'll get over it. Not like Demyx didn't bungle every mission he was ever sent on since he showed up here." He chuckled. "He makes me look like an expert at this."

Saix took a deep breath through his nose, and let it out slowly, trying to stay calm, despite the fact Axel made his blood boil. His arrogance and carefree attitude got to him; it wasn't suited for a member of the Organization. It just wasn't proper. He violated every rule carelessly, and Xemnas just did nothing over it.

Not that Saix ever reported Axel.

"Lea," Saix said simply, the mere mention of the old name kicking Axel into attention, "I shall not keep making excuses for you... Xemnas will not accept insubordination at this level." He went quiet, letting the words hang in the air darkly.

Axel blinked, mouth quirked into a smirk. "Is that so, Isa? You'd turn me in that easily?" He chuckled, propping a knee up on the chair arm, his hand dangling lazily. He scoffed, eyes heavy lidded.

Saix suddenly lunged, slamming Axel into the wall hard enough to make him grunt in pain. He got in close, glaring into Axel's eyes, fists bunching Axel's coat to drag him up to eye level. "You listen up..." He hissed, spittle hitting Axel's cheek, "Xemnas can destroy you...I can destroy you, and I will if I need to. You're messing in things you've got no business messing in." His face was inches from Axel's, his breath coming in angry pants.

Axel flinched, swiping his cheek clean angrily. He shoved Saix back, putting all his weight into it. Saix stepped back in shock, eyes flashing in anger; Axel had never dared to lay a hand on him like this.

"Don't ever touch me again," he hissed, eyes flickering yellow briefly.

Axel chuckled, a wicked grin on his face. "I'll touch you anytime I want, Isa." He spat. Red splashed Saix's cheeks at the double meaning of Axel's words, and he glared. "Xemnas will hear of this, Lea... I've got no choice."

"Tell him the mansion has Unicornis images, and see how well he takes it. Twilight Town will be torn down by Dusks in an hour," Axel spat back, dropping into the sofa again. "Xemnas will raze it for every drop of info it does or doesn't have to offer."

Saix said nothing. There was nothing to add to that. Axel was completely right: on even the slightest chance Twilight Town had secrets to give, even after all these years of recon, he'd have the place torn down, brick by brick, and the people there... either killed, or enslaved, hearts stolen for the Goal.

"Thought so... you know damn well I'm right." Axel grinned, knowing Saix would say nothing; his threats were just empty. They'd been since the old days in Radiant.

Saix glared at him for another second or two, then walked off. He didn't look back. 

The mansion was quiet, the halls dark and cold in the dim twilight seeping through the broken glass of the windows. The silence was maddening, any sound echoing in the stillness. Like the soft patter of footprints, walking gently down the once grand staircase to the debris strewn floor of the tarnished grand hall.

The footsteps belonged to a petite blonde girl, slim, and pretty in a vacant way, the beauty haunting, but veiled from the real world somehow, like a fallen angel behind glass.

She walked through a shaft of sunlight, glinting through the shattered skylights above, her hair gleaming like spun gold. She gently touched the dusty glass of the display case in the center of the fallen hall, gazing in at the broken castle figure inside. To anyone else, it appeared a mere broken figure... to her, it meant the last remnant of the old secrets had been discovered, somehow. The final tower had fallen, meaning the last secret... the secret of the previous owner of the mansion... had been discovered somehow.

"So... it's fallen?" A voice asked, and she glanced back over her shoulder, but didn't bother to face him. "Yes... the last real secret... the Organization must have...somehow..." She couldn't even put it into words correctly. "It's over."

"No," he stepped up next to her, looking in at the model, and the fallen towers and sections, "you've got no proof this thing even works anymore. The enchantment is old... it could be wrong. Maybe it just fell when the magic ended."

"You can't be sure of that," she argued. "Yen Sid's enchantments aren't faulty..."

"If you say so," he said softly, walking away from the case. He dropped into a musty armchair, the ancient fabric emitting a cloud of dust. "Where is Yen Sid? The King lost contact with him."

"At the tower, like always... it's relocated to the outskirts of the town. You can't get there on foot." She gently put a hand on the glass, looking in sadly.

"Namine..." He stood, walking up to her. He gently put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her somewhat. She didn't look back, but he felt the muscle relaxed, and she sighed.

"Everything will be okay... it always is. Things just... have their way of working out."

"When did you become a sooth sayer?" She asked, lightly joking. He smiled, appreciatively. "After the last trip to Wonderland," he kidded, right back.

She smiled, but it was distant, her face still tight with worry, staring in at the model.

Nothing he said would make her stop for now, so he walked away, heading upstairs. He glanced down from the railing, seeing her sitting besides the glass case, and sketching in her book. She hadn't had it with her before, but he didn't question its appearance: like Namine herself, that book was a mystery wrapped in secrets, never running out of pages, despite holding easily hundreds of drawings and sketches. Her wax sticks never needed sharpening, the white paper unmarked by any brands or logos. Just another in the long line of mysteries he'd encountered lately.

He left her be, returning to his room off the balcony. Through the broken glass, a light wind made the sheer curtains flutter, like ghosts as the draft from the door made them reach towards him.

He lay on the bed, and stared up at the cracks chasing each other along the plaster, almost convinced he could see faces, looking back him.

The lights danced along the skyline outside the glass, and he looked back calmly, seeing the sparks dancing along them, exposing the links there, among the distant mountains, the doors to the Other Sky. They shifted and waned, creating the brillant bursts of light.

The door behind him opened, but he didn't turn, knowing who it was before they even spoke. "Mickey..."

The King stood there, head lowered respectfully. "Yen Sid...I..I've gotten word the last one has fallen...they know! They must!"

Yen Sid turned, sitting in his chair. The King stood there, looking back at him solemnly. "Yen Sid...what do we do?"

"Nothing," He said, simply.

"N..nothing?!"

Yen Sid bowed his head. "Things will go the way fate chooses... the Organization knows of a secret, yes... but not one that can use."

"But...the mansion..." Mickey began, but Yen Sid held up a hand.

"The owner of the mansion means nothing, Mickey... it is merely another secret that means little to those who discover it. The Organization thinks everything has importance, when it does not."

"I don't understand," Mickey confessed.

"Do not worry now... there is time yet. Things are not ready."

"You mean...?" Mickey tilted his head.

Yen Sid bowed his head. "Yes... Sora yet plays a part...even as he sleeps." He smiled, kindly. "For now, do not worry... the mansion's owner is known to them...yes... but there are other, greater secrets yet unknown." He nodded. "The Organization knows of nothing important to our cause."

Mickey nodded, still not really understanding, but not wanting to speak out. He had his own secrets, so he understood all to well the practice of keeping silent. He did it quite often. Not even Yen Sid knew about the castle the Organization had used to trick Sora.

"Try to sleep, Mickey... the days ahead will be long."

"Yes, Yen Sid... good night," he said, leaving Yen Sid to his thoughts. It was only as he headed down to the room he was borrowing, that he realized Yen Sid had merely repeated himself several times about the Organization not knowing anything of importance, and to not worry. It wasn't like Yen Sid to withhold his thoughts like this.

High up in his study, the master wizard closed his eyes, and let himself doze. Outside, the lights waned and danced, and the town only just visible on the horizon was waking up, the people walking the streets in the early morning light. It was a new day.

"Hey, Axel?" Roxas said.

"Huh?" Axel hadn't been listening: Saix's words had sadly proven true, and Xemnas had met up with him the night before, chiding him for his lack of respect to the cause. It had hurt, and done nothing but fan the fires of revolt he'd been harboring.

"Axel!" Roxas said again, a touch of annoyance in his voice.

"Sorry...what, Rox?"

"What does it mean when you push a girl's buttons?"

Axel's mind went blank: what in total frick?! Had Demyx been talking filthy in the Grey Area again? Idiot... it wasn't like that was exactly anything Nobodies had a way of doing... he needed to keep his mouth shut around the kids. Idiot might end up on permanent K.P if he didn't keep it zipped.

"Uhm...what?"

"Well... Demyx said Xion was upset because I pushed the wrong buttons. What does that mean?"

Axel sighed, softly: thank god... he'd been worried Roxas meant something completely different then. He scolded himself mentally for thinking it.

"Well..." Axel began.


End file.
